An open letter to the Labour Party, from a grown-ass woman who’s voting for Jeremy Corbyn

A statement posted to the ‘Corbyn 50years+ Supporters’ Facebook group has lit up social media, so we saw fit to share the contents of this open letter with you.

While much of the mainstream press has decided to dismiss Corbyn supporters as either mendacious ‘Trots’ or naive youngsters (neither of which seems true based on what we’ve witnessed of the phenomenon), here is the view of an independent woman who knows her own mind.

We came across the post on Twitter, where it was rapidly going viral on Wednesday afternoon.

The Canary attended a Jeremy Corbyn rally in Bristol on Monday 8 August, and found many people in attendance who could’ve written the same letter as Ms Crossfield. Switched on, articulate, compassionate people who feel like it’s time to get involved and help shape the world for the better.

It is the kind of engagement that politicos and pundits have been pretending to want for decades – and now it’s here, they’re uncomfortable about it.

It is becoming ever more clear that the Parliamentary Labour Party in Westminster, and the pundits backing them, have become a part of a permanent political class alongside their Tory and Liberal Democrat counterparts. Disengagement and voter apathy mean a fairly stable job, a few seats lost and won either way each election, and no big surprises. The chance to earn a great wage and pass policies which guarantee lucrative consultancy/director roles after politics. All done with the passive acceptance of a disaffected electorate, half of whom don’t even bother to vote anymore. To this permanent political class, a popular movement based on social democratic values is about as welcome as a fart in an elevator.

But their grand coup is now laying in tatters. They had no vision, no figurehead, and no plan. Meanwhile, the Labour membership, Momentum, the unions, and Corbynites around the country did. Despite all efforts, Corbyn won with a greater landslide in 2015 than Blair did in 1994. The ‘unelectable’ Corbyn galvanised a thumping majority against a hostile media, commentariat and even parliamentary party. And he’s about to do it again.

This is unprecedented in modern history. No one marched to save Tony Blair. No one marched to save Gordon Brown. No one marched to save David Cameron.

The permanent political class is freaking out because the only thing that can beat out Project Fear is Project Hope. A Tory-lite Labour opposition was and is never going to win in 2020, but an energetic and awakened Labour movement can. Even worse, if the latter does win, there is a very real chance that the domestic and foreign policy of Britain could transform in a truly radical way. We could be a few months or years away from the most progressive government since Clement Attlee’s post-WWII government delivered the NHS, a national education system, nationalised transport and energy, and rolled out the biggest social housing programme in our history. This is an electoral choice that the UK hasn’t had the opportunity to make in decades.

The permanent political class is facing the most real and present threat to its power since 1979. It is going to throw every weapon in its armoury at ensuring that doesn’t happen. But none of those weapons is more powerful than a tight-knit, grassroots movement with its eye on a shared vision of an inspiring future. They don’t fear Corbyn because he might be unelectable. They fear him because he, and the movement he represents, might be unstoppable.

Since you're here ...

We know you don't need a lecture. You wouldn't be here if you didn't care.
Now, more than ever, we need your help to challenge the rightwing press and hold power to account. Please help us survive and thrive.

This site

This website uses cookies

We, and our partners, set cookies and collect information from your browser to provide you with website content, deliver relevant advertising and understand web audiences. See our privacy policy to learn more about how we manage your data and your rights. See our cookie consent policy to understand how we use cookies and tracking technology. To agree to our use of cookies, click "Accept".